Chardonnay Durell Vineyard 2006
Chardonnay Durell Vineyard 2006 is sold out and cannot be purchased at this time.
|
We source Chardonnay from seven vineyards in California. Santa Barbara, Carneros, Sonoma and Mendocino are all appellations Jed considers superior for Chardonnay. In any given vintage, Jed will determine that anywhere from two to four of the vineyards have produced fruit that is truly remarkable. The best of these lots is separated and bottled as single vineyard designated Chardonnay. The wines display an expression of Chardonnay that is a unique combination of varietal and geographic character. Each single vineyard Chardonnay is produced in small lots of under 500 6-packs. Vineyard Durell Vineyard is in a warmer location as the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains surround it and just at the northern boundary of the Carneros Appellation. This protection makes this vineyard less windy which also helps ripening. We harvest the Durell Chardonnay 10-14 days prior to harvesting the grapes from Sangiacomo, even though they are only two miles apart. The Durell combines the citrus and pear aromas and is a reserved and austere wine. Read more about Durell Vineyard in a recent Santa Rosa Press-Democrat article about Durell and viticulturalist Steve Hill. Winemaking All of our single vineyard designated Chardonnays are 100% barrel fermented in French Oak barrels. We use 30-40% new barrels each vintage and the wines are in barrel for 8-10 months. All wines finish malolactic fermentation and have the lees stirred monthly. We use a limited filtration program to further enhance the wines. The wines are clean racked in September and allowed to settle naturally in stainless steel tanks for three months. The wines are then bottled without tight filtration. These may show a slight haze but this is merely a mark of gentle handling. These Chardonnays should easily age for ten years or more. |